Little Sam all bundled up like a baby burrito <3

Here he is peeking at Tina!

I have this conflict now everyday when I am work…how am I supposed to focus on work and not just hold this sweet little baby all day long??? Advice???

The trifecta kiss!

Lee is an amazing big brother!

I don’t think Mary will ever have a shortage of hugs!

Thanks to all of our brides for their kind words after Mary had the baby.  You girls are the sweetest!  Mary has been back in the office off and on (I knew she wouldn’t be able to stay out long!) but for the time being I am handling most of the e-mails, phone calls, etc.  Thank you all for your patience!

]]> http://www.agardenpartyllc.com/2012/01/30/a-garden-party-is-proud-to-show-off-our-newest-arrival/feed/ 0 http://www.agardenpartyllc.com/2012/01/19/philadelphia-florist-megan-and-dan-at-trump-national-of-pine-hill/ http://www.agardenpartyllc.com/2012/01/19/philadelphia-florist-megan-and-dan-at-trump-national-of-pine-hill/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:01:24 +0000 admin http://www.agardenpartyllc.com/?p=4594 Well the big major news here at A Garden Party is that baby Sam has arrive!!!  Mary and baby are doing wonderful and I am loving getting to snuggle him up everyday.  Look at how sweet he is! (PS – thanks for the photo Tina!)

I also wanted to show off these photos from a wedding that we did last spring at Trump National of Pine Hill.  Megan wanted a tall centerpiece with a lot of impact, but was looking for something very natural and gardeny. We came up with the idea of using our tall bell vase with a maidenhair fern planted into the top.

I was obsessed with how striking and different these centerpieces turned out to be.  It doesn’t always have to involve flowers (well as a florist I think it usually does, but in this case, the ferns were awesome all on their own!).

In the base of the vase we used a crystal sphere with natural birch branches standing up in the vase.  We added that little bit of bling, but kept the natural element that Megan was looking for.

I kind of loved how you could see the dirt and the roots through the clear vase.

 Now I know today’s blog was super short and super quick….but there will be more to come!  I have lots of weddings waiting in the wings to be featured on the blog so keep checking back!

If you are interested in our floral design services in South Jersey, the greater Philadelphia area or Northern Delaware please contact us by filling out the form below:

It is becoming common for couples to request unusual shower gifts, such as money towards the honeymoon or a donation to charity. Enter A Garden Party Florist’s idea —A Garden Party Florist Gift Cards. You can purchase a gift card for any amount and give it to the bride as a gift. Best of all, Dawn and Mary can attach it to a flower and make sure it is as adorable as all of their other work. (Translation: No boring gift card in a plan white envelope.)

The gift card can be used towards any Garden Party Florist purchase, including those expensive orchids you fell in love with even though they were a little more expensive than your original plan.  All you bridesmaids out there that aren’t sure what to give the bride at her bridal shower…how about a gift card towards her wedding flowers!

These gift cards are also a great idea for anyone who needs or wants flowers.  After all, brides aren’t the only people who love flowers!

If you’re a bride, feel free to pass this exciting news on to anyone who might need a good gift idea. (Not everyone wants to buy you towels and spatulas.) If you know a bride who would love this idea, contact Dawn or Mary at 609-364-2529 or mary@gardenpartysisters.com to purchase a gift card.

SECRET #1. Does high school actually prepare you for the “real world”?

Well, in a round about way, YES. You have begun to define yourselves with your interests, talents, achievements – do you like where you are going?

When I was in Woodstown High School (Class of ’02), I did the whole soccer, FFA, 4-H thing (I probably did a million other activities too, knowing me, but they are kinda mute at this point…I wouldn’t count honor society as an activity, yet I thought it was at the time. See secret #4 for more info). Looking back on my soccer past, the friendships I formed on the field are still my strongest to date. The lessons Coach Morgan shared with us are put to good use daily, so my advice to you is don’t take these small lessons in life for granted. If they are important to you now, don’t let them fade away.

Allie, me, Sarah (my soccer girls) in 2001 – we have about a million pics like this and I love em all!

Ahhhh….FFA, where to begin? This is where I really started to define myself and my passions. I have this horrible quality of always wanted to be the best at everything, and my experiences with FFA helped me realize that some things I am good at, and some things I am n.o.t. (think Poultry judging-but dang, I do not eat chicken patties anymore). Becoming comfortable as a public speaker (FFA is chock full of this stuff), learning how to present myself confidently, chat it up with total strangers, fulfill a responsibility – these are the elements I am using today to make my business successful! FFA opened the door to my passion for floral design as well, thanks to those competitions, I got offered a job at a local flower shop. That lead to a few years of training and that passion for being creative never left me.

Being a 4-H member offered a lot of these same life lessons, mixing in some new friendships and a real emphasis on family learning. It showed me that my mom took a LOT of extra time to teach us, I thought it was normal back then, but now that I am a mother, I admire it even more now. She RULES at the mom thing.

So those life lessons in combination with the classroom lessons, I would say I was on a pretty awesome path by the time in hit those sidewalks of Penn State. Are you on an awesome path? What are you doing to get there?

SECRET #2: It takes some real work. Like the kind of work that you curse.

I hate to break it to ya, but the horrible/awful/stressful/complain-the-whole-lunch-break-about-some-assignment kind of work that you are doing now is the easy stuff.  Come talk to me when you get the the thesis composing, business plan writing, budget creating, tax-filing stage of life. Speaking of taxes, I am going to use this moment to again state that yeah it is great to be 18 and eligible to vote, but what the heck to you know about the government at 18? You only really start to learn about the government when you are working real jobs and paying real taxes. Once you have felt the sting (this is an understatement) of your hard earned money disappearing into the black hole of the tax universe, then you can vote. Only then.

The kind of hard work that I am talking about started in college, when I decided I wanted to start my business upon graduation. Well, I had no idea how to do that. So I did something scary, very scary….I asked someone to help me. This someone (holla Dr. Hyde) spent 2 years guiding me to forming a business plan for A Garden Party, so when I did get that diploma, I also had this very handy tool, my business plan, to get me started! The work involved with writing this business plan taught me how to start. making. decisions. I have realized that a lot of people struggle with this decision making process, and I admit, it can be a doozy. I started to make some decisions about how I wanted to form my business (at the time I was a sole proprietor), who would be there with me (Sister Dawn was later brought on as a full partner in our LLC), where would I get the money from (We saved it. Borrowed from no one. Worked another job and built this one during late nights and long weekends.), and what would make A Garden Party stand out from the rest of the Salem County or South Jersey florists (fresh designs with personal touches, extreme customer service). So this 70 page document was a lot of work, I sacrificed a lot of “slacking off” time in college and chose to get head start on my career. And guess what, I don’t regret it. I actually kinda liked it.

My other sister, Sara, and I on graduation day. May 2006. PS i miss U!!!!

SECRET #3: If you aren’t happy, it is your fault.

So I did the “right” thing after college and got a decent paying job for another company, where I worked with some awesome people and learned a boat load of stuff about how to run a successful business. After 3 years, I sat at my desk on day and thought “I am better than this job”. It had nothing to do with my boss, my pay, the hours, it had to do with the fact that I wasn’t happy. I was starting to turn into one of those people, where my job was making me a “negative nelly”, you know the type? I had all of these strong qualities (my creativity, my people skills) just going to waste! So I threw myself into A Garden Party in the off hours and built my business to a point where I knew I could do so much more if I just had the time to devote to it. I left my other job and started my career as an entrepreneur. It was the most frightening experience of my life to tell my boss that I was leaving, I bet he still thinks I am crazy. Who cares if I am crazy, at least I am happy

Dawn and I, just lovin’ life!

SECRET #4: Discovering the meaningful things in life sometimes sucks.

I used to do a lot of things so I could “build my resume”, in my current stage of life, that piece of paper is MIA. Yes, I am grateful for all of my experiences since they got me to where I am today, blah blah blah, but I don’t think I loved all of those bullets on my resume. I now only do what I love, and I am loving it! My time is spent strengthening our business, developing relationships with my clients, creating a happy and healthy environment for my son, loving my husband John and embracing my crazy family. The part that sucks is finding a balance for it all. I know I sound like Oprah (I love me some Oprah pep talks), but balance seems impossible sometimes, especially to the kind of person who wants to do it all. Sometimes you can’t….but I can keep trying! The other sucky parts include realizing that to be the best mom, sometimes that means sending your son to daycare. Realizing that to be the best wife, you have to stop cleaning up after dinner and start talking about life. Realizing that to be the best businesswoman, you have to work 7 days a week, late nights, and take out your own trash. These things might not mean much to you now, but maybe one day they will.

My son, Lee, on Easter. He helps (or plays) in the flower shop too!

Whelp, I guess those are all the SECRETS I am willing to unveil at this time…anyone else want to share some inner dirt?

SECRET #1. Does high school actually prepare you for the “real world”?

Well, in a round about way, YES. You have begun to define yourselves with your interests, talents, achievements – do you like where you are going?

When I was in Woodstown High School (Class of ’02), I did the whole soccer, FFA, 4-H thing (I probably did a million other activities too, knowing me, but they are kinda mute at this point…I wouldn’t count honor society as an activity, yet I thought it was at the time. See secret #4 for more info). Looking back on my soccer past, the friendships I formed on the field are still my strongest to date. The lessons Coach Morgan shared with us are put to good use daily, so my advice to you is don’t take these small lessons in life for granted. If they are important to you now, don’t let them fade away.

Allie, me, Sarah (my soccer girls) in 2001 – we have about a million pics like this and I love em all!

Ahhhh….FFA, where to begin? This is where I really started to define myself and my passions. I have this horrible quality of always wanted to be the best at everything, and my experiences with FFA helped me realize that some things I am good at, and some things I am n.o.t. (think Poultry judging-but dang, I do not eat chicken patties anymore). Becoming comfortable as a public speaker (FFA is chock full of this stuff), learning how to present myself confidently, chat it up with total strangers, fulfill a responsibility – these are the elements I am using today to make my business successful! FFA opened the door to my passion for floral design as well, thanks to those competitions, I got offered a job at a local flower shop. That lead to a few years of training and that passion for being creative never left me.

Being a 4-H member offered a lot of these same life lessons, mixing in some new friendships and a real emphasis on family learning. It showed me that my mom took a LOT of extra time to teach us, I thought it was normal back then, but now that I am a mother, I admire it even more now. She RULES at the mom thing.

So those life lessons in combination with the classroom lessons, I would say I was on a pretty awesome path by the time in hit those sidewalks of Penn State. Are you on an awesome path? What are you doing to get there?

SECRET #2: It takes some real work. Like the kind of work that you curse.

I hate to break it to ya, but the horrible/awful/stressful/complain-the-whole-lunch-break-about-some-assignment kind of work that you are doing now is the easy stuff.  Come talk to me when you get the the thesis composing, business plan writing, budget creating, tax-filing stage of life. Speaking of taxes, I am going to use this moment to again state that yeah it is great to be 18 and eligible to vote, but what the heck to you know about the government at 18? You only really start to learn about the government when you are working real jobs and paying real taxes. Once you have felt the sting (this is an understatement) of your hard earned money disappearing into the black hole of the tax universe, then you can vote. Only then.

The kind of hard work that I am talking about started in college, when I decided I wanted to start my business upon graduation. Well, I had no idea how to do that. So I did something scary, very scary….I asked someone to help me. This someone (holla Dr. Hyde) spent 2 years guiding me to forming a business plan for A Garden Party, so when I did get that diploma, I also had this very handy tool, my business plan, to get me started! The work involved with writing this business plan taught me how to start. making. decisions. I have realized that a lot of people struggle with this decision making process, and I admit, it can be a doozy. I started to make some decisions about how I wanted to form my business (at the time I was a sole proprietor), who would be there with me (Sister Dawn was later brought on as a full partner in our LLC), where would I get the money from (We saved it. Borrowed from no one. Worked another job and built this one during late nights and long weekends.), and what would make A Garden Party stand out from the rest of the Salem County or South Jersey florists (fresh designs with personal touches, extreme customer service). So this 70 page document was a lot of work, I sacrificed a lot of “slacking off” time in college and chose to get head start on my career. And guess what, I don’t regret it. I actually kinda liked it.

My other sister, Sara, and I on graduation day. May 2006. PS i miss U!!!!

SECRET #3: If you aren’t happy, it is your fault.

So I did the “right” thing after college and got a decent paying job for another company, where I worked with some awesome people and learned a boat load of stuff about how to run a successful business. After 3 years, I sat at my desk on day and thought “I am better than this job”. It had nothing to do with my boss, my pay, the hours, it had to do with the fact that I wasn’t happy. I was starting to turn into one of those people, where my job was making me a “negative nelly”, you know the type? I had all of these strong qualities (my creativity, my people skills) just going to waste! So I threw myself into A Garden Party in the off hours and built my business to a point where I knew I could do so much more if I just had the time to devote to it. I left my other job and started my career as an entrepreneur. It was the most frightening experience of my life to tell my boss that I was leaving, I bet he still thinks I am crazy. Who cares if I am crazy, at least I am happy

Dawn and I, just lovin’ life!

SECRET #4: Discovering the meaningful things in life sometimes sucks.

I used to do a lot of things so I could “build my resume”, in my current stage of life, that piece of paper is MIA. Yes, I am grateful for all of my experiences since they got me to where I am today, blah blah blah, but I don’t think I loved all of those bullets on my resume. I now only do what I love, and I am loving it! My time is spent strengthening our business, developing relationships with my clients, creating a happy and healthy environment for my son, loving my husband John and embracing my crazy family. The part that sucks is finding a balance for it all. I know I sound like Oprah (I love me some Oprah pep talks), but balance seems impossible sometimes, especially to the kind of person who wants to do it all. Sometimes you can’t….but I can keep trying! The other sucky parts include realizing that to be the best mom, sometimes that means sending your son to daycare. Realizing that to be the best wife, you have to stop cleaning up after dinner and start talking about life. Realizing that to be the best businesswoman, you have to work 7 days a week, late nights, and take out your own trash. These things might not mean much to you now, but maybe one day they will.

My son, Lee, on Easter. He helps (or plays) in the flower shop too!

Whelp, I guess those are all the SECRETS I am willing to unveil at this time…anyone else want to share some inner dirt?

It is a little hard to read so here is a recap “When we started our business, my sister and I went around to local reception halls with an impressive arrangement for each and business cards to introduce ourselves and our work.  It was the best thing we could have done!  We have developed strong business relationships and, more importantly, friendships that have brought us a lot of business.  We also made extra copies of our wedding albums, and [the reception facilities] use them to show off what their hall looks like completely decorated and ready for a wedding.  Every year, we take a new album and flowers as a thank-you for referring us.”

As if that wasn’t exciting enough, we also had 4 pictures published in this issue!

Jena’s bouquet was one of my favorites of the year and was featured on page 76 in a piece titled ‘Fashionable Feathers’.  Thanks Tina for the awesome shot!!!

Jena and Mike can also be seen on page 66.  Photo courtesy of that amazing Tina Jay Photography!

Kari and Dave’s ceremony site made the magazine on pages 68 AND 76 in a piece titled “High-Style Aisles”!  Another one of Tina’s photos

RHM Photography shared this amazing photo of Casey’s wedding with us, which can be found on page 70…love those pomanders!

I can’t end this blog post without posting a picture of our newest addition to the family.  Our sister, Sara, (yes there is 3 of us, she helps sometimes too!) had her 3rd baby this morning.  Baby Tice made his appearance this morning and Mary and I raced over there to cuddle him   Here is a proud Aunt Mary holding him…

If you are interested in our floral design services in South Jersey, the greater Philadelphia area or Northern Delaware please contact Mary by filling out the form below:

[contact-form] [contact-field label="Hi! My name is..." type="name" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Let's chat! Email me back about my event here..." type="email" required="true" /] [contact-field label="The magical day is..." type="url" required="true" /] [contact-field label="We picked the perfect location at..." type="text" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Here is my cell phone #, just in case..." type="text" required="true" /] [/contact-form]

It is a little hard to read so here is a recap “When we started our business, my sister and I went around to local reception halls with an impressive arrangement for each and business cards to introduce ourselves and our work.  It was the best thing we could have done!  We have developed strong business relationships and, more importantly, friendships that have brought us a lot of business.  We also made extra copies of our wedding albums, and [the reception facilities] use them to show off what their hall looks like completely decorated and ready for a wedding.  Every year, we take a new album and flowers as a thank-you for referring us.”

As if that wasn’t exciting enough, we also had 4 pictures published in this issue!

Jena’s bouquet was one of my favorites of the year and was featured on page 76 in a piece titled ‘Fashionable Feathers’.  Thanks Tina for the awesome shot!!!

Jena and Mike can also be seen on page 66.  Photo courtesy of that amazing Tina Jay Photography!

Kari and Dave’s ceremony site made the magazine on pages 68 AND 76 in a piece titled “High-Style Aisles”!  Another one of Tina’s photos

RHM Photography shared this amazing photo of Casey’s wedding with us, which can be found on page 70…love those pomanders!

I can’t end this blog post without posting a picture of our newest addition to the family.  Our sister, Sara, (yes there is 3 of us, she helps sometimes too!) had her 3rd baby this morning.  Baby Tice made his appearance this morning and Mary and I raced over there to cuddle him   Here is a proud Aunt Mary holding him…

If you are interested in our floral design services in South Jersey, the greater Philadelphia area or Northern Delaware please contact Mary by filling out the form below:

[contact-form] [contact-field label="Hi! My name is..." type="name" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Let\'s chat! Email me back about my event here..." type="email" required="true" /] [contact-field label="The magical day is..." type="url" required="true" /] [contact-field label="We picked the perfect location at..." type="text" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Here is my cell phone #, just in case..." type="text" required="true" /] [/contact-form]

Only one vendor from each category has been selected, the best of the best just for our local brides! Come see what they all have to offer, each vendor will have show specials and prizes for attending brides. Check out their websites for more info:

Auburn Road Vineyards - local wines, custom wines labels, rehearsal and shower venue

Designed By M.E. Stationary - exceptional custom wedding stationary

Lia Sophia – beautiful wedding day jewelry for you and your bridal party

Rental City - designer linens, chairs, tables, tents, china and more will be showcased at our Open House

Salon Nicole – hair and makeup trials will be done at the show!

The Sweet Life Bakery - delicious AND beautiful wedding cakes and treats, Jill is bringing samples, YUM!

Tina Jay Photography - see her stunning albums and meet the beloved Tina in person

If you are interested in our floral design services in South Jersey, the greater Philadelphia area or Northern Delaware please contact Mary by filling out the form below:

[contact-form] [contact-field label="Hi! My name is..." type="name" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Let's chat! Email me back about my event here..." type="email" required="true" /] [contact-field label="The magical day is..." type="url" required="true" /] [contact-field label="We picked the perfect location at..." type="text" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Here is my cell phone #, just in case..." type="text" required="true" /] [/contact-form]

Welcome brides, near and far! Our new sign is ordered and will be here in a few weeks, but we think this is looking rather charming!

This was the day the concrete was poured, Lee put his little prints in it!

Lee monitoring John (prepping for concrete)….this picture always makes me laugh.

Our workspace under construction….yes, we did a few weddings like this.

Consultation area, mid project.

We added shiplap to the walls and ceiling, this wall used to be a corn crib that Mitch reworked into built in storage. Mom hung a gutter to hold all of our ribbons and we have a perfect place to display pics of a few of our beautiful brides!

I know this may not seem impressive to most of you, but we FINALLY have running water! John promised me last year that if I booked 20 weddings in 2009 that he would install it, TA DA! He is a man of his word. The sink is a used gem that we found in Vineland, it is a vegetable processing sink out of a grocery store that is perfectly designed for us with a place to mount our bunch cutter and a hole for the trash, which we now compost (most of it anyway). Oh and a HUGE sink!

Yeah yeah yeah, not to impressive, but DID YOU SEE THE BEFORE SHOT?

Here we are (Dawn on the left, Mary on the right)!

Entering our consult space, I hung this old mirror that my Poppop bought for me at an auction a few years ago. I painted it and it looks better than new! We will be adding shelves here to display our books and albums.

My favorite spot!!! Well, besides the sink. We poured concrete in this bay (it was a dirt floor a month ago!) and insulated the walls, added the boards, but chose to leave an original beam exposed at the top and bottom. Our barn was built in the 1920's with our house and we wanted to save some of that charm. The upstairs has an awesome hay loft, which we now use to store our rental items. Pull up a seat and let's chat in our nook!

Our bride wall of fame!

Enlarged prints showcasing our work are displayed for all to admire.

All of our current centerpiece options are on display, which makes it so much easier to visualize and order your wedding centerpieces.

Well, what do you think? The new space is so enjoyable to work in and Dawn and I even think it has helped us creatively! Stop on by for a visit or schedule your consultation today to see it yourself. We would love to have you!

If you are interested in our floral design services in South Jersey, the greater Philadelphia area or Northern Delaware please contact Mary by filling out the form below:

[contact-form] [contact-field label="Hi! My name is..." type="name" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Let's chat! Email me back about my event here..." type="email" required="true" /] [contact-field label="The magical day is..." type="url" required="true" /] [contact-field label="We picked the perfect location at..." type="text" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Here is my cell phone #, just in case..." type="text" required="true" /] [/contact-form]

Welcome brides, near and far! Our new sign is ordered and will be here in a few weeks, but we think this is looking rather charming!

This was the day the concrete was poured, Lee put his little prints in it!

Lee monitoring John (prepping for concrete)….this picture always makes me laugh.

Our workspace under construction….yes, we did a few weddings like this.

Consultation area, mid project.

We added shiplap to the walls and ceiling, this wall used to be a corn crib that Mitch reworked into built in storage. Mom hung a gutter to hold all of our ribbons and we have a perfect place to display pics of a few of our beautiful brides!

I know this may not seem impressive to most of you, but we FINALLY have running water! John promised me last year that if I booked 20 weddings in 2009 that he would install it, TA DA! He is a man of his word. The sink is a used gem that we found in Vineland, it is a vegetable processing sink out of a grocery store that is perfectly designed for us with a place to mount our bunch cutter and a hole for the trash, which we now compost (most of it anyway). Oh and a HUGE sink!

Yeah yeah yeah, not to impressive, but DID YOU SEE THE BEFORE SHOT?

Here we are (Dawn on the left, Mary on the right)!

Entering our consult space, I hung this old mirror that my Poppop bought for me at an auction a few years ago. I painted it and it looks better than new! We will be adding shelves here to display our books and albums.

My favorite spot!!! Well, besides the sink. We poured concrete in this bay (it was a dirt floor a month ago!) and insulated the walls, added the boards, but chose to leave an original beam exposed at the top and bottom. Our barn was built in the 1920's with our house and we wanted to save some of that charm. The upstairs has an awesome hay loft, which we now use to store our rental items. Pull up a seat and let's chat in our nook!

Our bride wall of fame!

Enlarged prints showcasing our work are displayed for all to admire.

All of our current centerpiece options are on display, which makes it so much easier to visualize and order your wedding centerpieces.

Well, what do you think? The new space is so enjoyable to work in and Dawn and I even think it has helped us creatively! Stop on by for a visit or schedule your consultation today to see it yourself. We would love to have you!

If you are interested in our floral design services in South Jersey, the greater Philadelphia area or Northern Delaware please contact Mary by filling out the form below:

[contact-form] [contact-field label="Hi! My name is..." type="name" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Let\'s chat! Email me back about my event here..." type="email" required="true" /] [contact-field label="The magical day is..." type="url" required="true" /] [contact-field label="We picked the perfect location at..." type="text" required="true" /] [contact-field label="Here is my cell phone #, just in case..." type="text" required="true" /] [/contact-form]